Pulp
by stifled-genius
Summary: "Ame needs strong ninja to protect it. And I know if I can become a strong ninja, I can make sure kids like us, and villages like ours can do all those things in peace." An OC follows her brother to Amegakure, with the intent of becoming an shinobi, and trains under Konan in the art of paper we all know and love.
1. Chapter 1

Introduction

In January, five years before the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, a family in a small mining village located on the border of Rain and Grass country welcomed a healthy baby girl into their family. The country was facing an unsteady peace under their leader, Hanzo, rebuilt the countries infrastructure after the end of the previous war.

Barely a year after Yukiji Yuma's birth, Rain country would once again be plunged into war. Her older brother Shotaro would turn four that year, just old enough to know that war was not good.

Her parents had called it the "Third Shinobi World War", and she learned it was between Earth and Fire country, and was being fought in Grass country. Even though their borders hadn't been crossed yet, everyone in Rain country who remembered the second war knew Iwa and Konoha held no qualms with using their land as a battlefield.

It wasn't until Yuki herself was four, and Shotaro seven that the fighting would reach their village.

* * *

Yukiji glanced nervously between her parents. They'd sat their two children down at the table, while the rain thundered onto their roof above them.

"Shotaro, you're going to take your sister and go to Amegakure. You're both old enough to enroll in the academy there, and can learn to protect yourselves." Shotaro's eyes widened as their mother started, her voice wavering in a way that Yuki had never heard before.

"But mom- I won't leave you here, come with us!" Shotaro stood, slamming his hands on the table.

"I refuse to become a refugee." Their father shook his head. "We will stand our ground here in the village. We're protected by Amegakure, and those Konoha and Iwa bastards-"

"Language!" Their mother interjected.

"They need to stay out of our land. There are ninja setting up defenses on the border now. Hanzo leads Amegakure, and he will protect us."

"But you two can't stay here. We think," Their mother's voice was on the verge of breaking, and their father took her hand in reassurance. "We think going to Amegakure would make a better life for the two of you."

Shotaro nodded, and Yuki shivered at how grave his usual exuberant expression had become. As if he was accepting a mission. His first mission, Yukiji would acknowledge years later.

They left for Ame that week, filling packs with food and the little money their parents had saved. Yuki wore her thickest sweater underneath her raincoat. There was a running joke that all Rain country children were born wearing one, and as long as she could remember, she'd had one. Shotaro layered shirts over one another, trying to stay warm under a raincoat that was clearly too small.

Standing side by side, Yukiji was told she looked like a younger version of Shotaro, with their similar shoulder-length dark hair and matching moles under their left eye. They'd both inherited their mothers light brown eyes, and when Yukiji scrunched her face correctly, their fathers stony expressions. When she was little, Yukiji had made a game of mimicking Shotaro's facial expressions, which didn't discourage assumptions that they were siblings of the same gender.

Her mother pushed the last bit of food into her pack, then knelt in front of her. Yukiji noticed tears gathering at the corners of her eyes as she spoke. "Look out for each other, study hard, train hard. I love you."

Yuki threw her arms around her mother, lower lip trembling.

"Me and Shotaro will come back!" She declared, trying not to cry. Her mother released her and nodded, a smile spreading across her face.

"I'll become Ame's best shinobi and Yuki will be the best kunoichi and we'll make you both proud!" Shotaro nodded, putting a hand on his sisters shoulder.

"Never forget who you fight for." Their father nodded. "You fight for your people and for your country."

Those words echoed in her head as Shotaro took her hand and led her through the heavy rain away from their house, away from their village, away from their fields, and towards Amegakure.

The days following seemed easy, the quality of roads increased the further they got into the country. The scenery shifted from mines to factories, but the villages centered around those factories became increasingly industrialized.

Once the size of their packs diminished after eating the food, they found themselves hiding out at the edges of the towns they'd passed. Various empty drain pipes and large sheets of scrap metal became their temporary homes, and Yuki found she missed her home more and more. The drain pipes were cold and dirty, and always home to rats. Wherever they went, there seemed to be rats. Yuki hated them, and had gotten into the habit of picking up medium sized rocks and bits of metal she found while they were walking to throw at them.

Shotaro had remarked she was getting good at it when she'd hit two rats at once with a single piece of twisted, barbed metal taken from the ruins of a house.

Currently, they were camped at the base of a tower project clearly abandoned after being half completed. Shotaro had started a fire, and was looking concerned at their dwindling food rations.

"Why did mom and dad have to send us away?" Yuki murmured, tossing a rock at a rat that was inching too close.

"They sent us away to become shinobi. We have to become strong." Was all he said in reply.

"I don't want to be a shinobi. I want to go home." Yukiji sniffled, scrubbing the tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes. "I want to go home and watch Mom cook, and listen to Dad tell stories-"

"Yuki-" Shotaro cut her off. "You think I don't want to go home? I want to go home and go fishing with my friends again, and help Mom in the garden when we can grow vegetables again-" He took a deep breath. "But Ame needs strong ninja to protect it. And I know if I can become a strong ninja, I can make sure kids like us, and villages like ours can do all those things in peace."

Yuki nodded.

"I guess so."

"Become a strong ninja like me Yuki, and together we'll protect Ame."

She wasn't entirely convinced at first, but Shotaro's repetition of the ideals as they travelled farther eventually drilled into her head.

At some points it seemed he was trying to convince himself instead of her.

They trudged onwards, eventually making it to a village on the shores of a lake. Along the shore were barely any trees or plants in sight, which unnerved Yuki.

Her hand clung to Shotaro's as she focused on the rain sliding down her raincoat. Most of the country they'd travelled through, the rain had been intermittent, stopping and starting, and there were even days of travelling where heavy grey clouds had just hung in the air, threatening to spill at any moment.

But as they got closer to Amegakure, the rain had started again, and seemed endless in the days leading up to finding the lake village.

Shotaro asked around, and found out the only way to get to Amegakure was to cross the lake via ferry. Yuki hoped they had enough money.

The ferry building was severe, made of twisting metal that curved around a sign saying "AMEGAKURE FERRY SERVICE". A little painted boat underneath the sign was deceptively cute.

"Refugees?" Was all the woman at the desk had said when Shotaro approached. "Sorry but we're no longer letting in refugees to the city. You mongrels have overrun it as if we didn't already have enough problems." The disgusted tone of the woman's voice made Yuki want to crawl into a drainpipe and never come out.

"We're not refugees!" How did Shotaro's voice manage to stay so calm? Yuki only gripped his hand tighter. "We've come to enroll in the academy."

"Both of you?" The woman raised an eyebrow. "Midget over there seems a bit young."

"I- I want to enroll! I don't care if I'm young!" Yuki declared, a little too loudly out of nervousness. Her voice sounded on the edge of cracking.

"Nanaba! We've got more academy brats!" The woman's shrill yell was the only sound across the room of shivering refugees. A man clearly recognizable as a ninja walked over, spotting Yukiji and Shotaro. At his neck hung a black mask like device with several holes she would later learn was called a rebreather. Around his forehead was tied a metal plate with 4 parallel, vertical lines etched on it.

"Ahh, more academy recruits indeed!" He reached out a hand to them. "My name's Nanaba, and I'm in charge of wrangling any Academy potentials. And what are your names?" He led them to a smaller, separate room wherein sat five other children.

"I'm Shotaro Yuma and this is my sister Yukiji." Shotaro was giving the ninja a big smile, the happiest she'd seen him since they left. While Yuki let Shotaro do the talking, her eyes darted warily over the other children. There were five of them, none of them seemed threatening. The rooms walls reflected the twisting, metal pipe design of the outside, but the floors were solid wood.

Nanaba scratched some notes on a clipboard, then nodded at them.

"Alright, you're all set to enter Amegakure-" Yukiji brightened, glancing up at him. "But you won't enroll in the Academy until your aptitude for ninja skills is determined. You're from the outer villages correct?"

Shotaro nodded.

"Then we have no idea if you have the chakra awareness or physical aptitude to become a ninja. But that's okay! The tests will be easy if you have what it takes. I'll be back to collect you once the ferry is ready to leave." Yukiji found her nerves calmed by Nanaba's optimism.

He left them with the other children, still scribbling on his clipboard. Shotaro sat down, putting his bag in his lap. Yuki mimicked him, feeling the gazes of the other children fall to them.

"So, welcome to the worst waiting room of your life." One of the girls grinned, getting up and sitting in front of them. Yuki watched her, hand tightening on her bag. The girl had dull purple hair clipped just below her chin, and a smile that showed a few missing teeth. "My name's Michiko Kinjo."

"Nice to meet you, Michiko." Yuki smiled back, trying not to come off as too shy.

"I'm Tanaka Otomo, and this is my cousin Shinji." A boy with sandy colored hair and bright blue eyes waved from the far wall. His silent cousin did as well. They could have mistaken for brothers. "Don't mind Shinji, he doesn't talk."

"I'm Shotaro Yuma and this is my sister Yukiji." Shotaro smiled at the two boys, and Michiko slid onto Yuki's other side.

"And over here we have Kana, with the lavender hair, and Hana is the dark haired girl next to him." Michiko pointed. Kana rolled his eyes, and Hana waved. Yuki waved back.

Yuki soon learned the stories of all the children in the room. Tanaka and Shinji had been sent to the academy after both sets of their parents had been sent to the front lines unexpectedly. Michiko had left her village with the intent of becoming the leader of Ame one day and ending all wars. Yukiji remembered her mother's parting words, and decided she liked Michiko. Kana was there because he wanted to avenge his parents, and Hana was like Yuki and Shotaro in that she'd been sent away to safety.

Nanaba came to collect the group a few hours later, passing out water and ration bars. They would be leaving for Ame on the ferry within the hour, and as they were boarding, were joined by two more children.

Keiko had dirty blonde hair, immediately clashing with Tanaka's equal levels of rambunctiousness, much to Nanaba's dismay. Harumi came from a small ninja clan outside the main city, and was the only one as young as Yuki. His parents were friends with Nanaba, and had dropped him off that day. His dusty orange hair covered his eyes most of the time, but he claimed he could already throw kunai accurately and walk on water. Yukiji made him promise to show her when they got to Ame.

Somehow, the nine children managed to make it to the shores of Ame alive, and were met by more ninja, all wearing rebreathers and sporting the forehead protectors.

Yuki inquired why, and was answered by Michiko.

"When you graduate the Academy, you'll get one. That symbol represents the rain of our village and country, it's an honor to wear one."

Yuki could see many of the other children nodding in agreement, excited by the prospect. Their names were checked off by Nanaba, and the boys were promptly separated from the girls.

Yukiji called for her brothers name, a spike of anxiety lancing her chest when they were separated, but Michiko took her hand and shushed her.

"Don't be a baby, they're just giving us rooms since we don't live in the city. You'll see him tomorrow."

Yuki nodded, trying not to squeeze Michiko's hand too hard. The two of them, plus Hana and Keiko were led to rooms in one of the towers. Their rooms were a floor below the current outer village girls of the genin class, set to graduate the following week.

Yuki dropped her pack immediately and ran to the window. It had been hard to get a good look at the city from the ground, but from up here she could see a full horizon of spires, all made of metal.

True to the name, the expansive village was blanketed by a light drizzle, obscuring any horizon past the lake. Besides the spires, every building seemed to be made of metal, and even as night fell, the city had little to no outside lighting above a certain height. No two buildings had the same design, and some had faces and other sculptures erupting from their sides.

"They're pretty." Hana, her assigned roommate murmured from beside her. "My dad told me his grandfather designed some of the towers. My dad hung the old building sketches in my room at home."

"That's so cool! I've never seen buildings this tall before." Yukiji smiled. "It's amazing. I can't believe I made it to the city."

"Yea me too! Though on the ferry it sounds like your journey was way longer than mine."

"There's more girls than boys." Both her and Hana's attention was captured by two ninja on a balcony the floor below. The girls fell silent immediately, listening through the rain.

"Hanzo doesn't care, he only wants trained and loyal ninja. We'll just rearrange the genin teams."

The other nin nodded solemnly, most of their expression covered by the rebreathers both wore, before leaping away, leaving Hana and Yuki to frown in confusion over what they had said.


	2. Chapter 2

The first tests had been deceptively easy. First thing the next morning, the children filed into academy classrooms, and were given a short lecture on chakra and its uses, as well as three basic jutsu forms. Yuki was fascinated, this was the first she'd learned about being a shinobi besides the little that Shotaro had told her on their journey.

Each child was tested for chakra manipulation ability, and Yuki found she could easily channel the strange blue energy, and was sent to sit at the back of the room. Any child who showed little to no ability to draw on their chakra or even sense it was put in a fast expanding group at the front of the room.

The kids like Tanaka and Kana who came from shinobi families, outside of Amegakure were almost immediately sent to the back of the room.

Yuki watched the group of children at the front of the room be ushered out by one of the shinobi who'd done the testing.

The day was short, but thankfully all of the people Yuki had grown attached to in the past 24 hours weren't dismissed. Hana walked back to the room with her, talking absently about how she'd love to learn about genjutsu if she made it in.

Yuki had been staring out the window, trying to memorize the spires through the mist of the rain, when Keiko had practically knocked down their door, asking Hana and Yuki if they wanted to play cards.

"Please say yes!" Came Michiko's tired voice behind her.

The four of them sat in a circle, and by the end of the game Keiko was left cackling, while Yuki stared at the cards she had left. The rules had been lost on her, and halfway through the game she'd given up trying to figure it out.

Some of the other potential girls who were living down the hall heard Keiko's cheers of success, and poked their heads in. Four became six, and Keiko had almost double the amount of girls to confuse with her strange card game rules.

Eventually enough girls had been drawn into the game that Yuki could quit, watching over Hana's shoulder as she went in for round four.

Round four brought a new winner, leaving Keiko in utter shock. The girls name was Mei, and she grinned gleefully when Keiko challenged her to a one on one.

The girls in the room watched intently as Keiko dealt the cards again, until Mei pointed a finger.

"See- she's cheating!"

"Keiko!" Michiko swatted the back of her roommates head.

The game was redealt, with Keiko glaring the entire time.

The next morning, the potentials were all lined up outside. The rain quickly drenched the group of anxious, shivering children, until several of the shinobi overseeing the testing created an umbrella-like shield over the area. Yuki squeezed some of the excess water out of her hair while Nanaba gave a generic introduction and speech.

The Academy tentatives were being given a physical fitness test, comprised of running, climbing, throwing, and a grand finale of one on one matches. Not all of the losers of the matches would be eliminated, if they made up for their loss through the previous segments of the evaluation.

They were allowed a brief warm up, before transitioning immediately into running laps, then sprint drills. Yuki found herself out of breath almost immediately, but pushed through using the stamina built up from weeks straight of walking. By the third sprint, a dull ache had settled into her lungs, and she had no doubt her face was beet red. She wished she had bangs to cover it.

She did notice Shotaro emerged as the fastest, outpacing kids two to three years older than him. When the running was over, Yuki heard one of the shinobi comment that his sprint times beat even some of the Ame born students.

Next came climbing drills, and Yuki wished she had something other than a sweater to wear as she hauled herself up the side of the tower. Hand and footholds were few and far between, since they were scaling the side of a building. Above her, Yuki heard arguments over climbing space. She tried not to look down at risk of seeing the children who lost those arguments.

Shotaro came in third in the climbing, and Yuki almost dead last. This didn't bode well if she lost her one on one match. Nanaba and the other ninja present said nothing to them besides the occasional command, constantly flipping through their notes.

Throwing kunai and shuriken was a piece of cake after tossing rocks at rats and other vermin that had tried to steal their food on the journey, and all of Yuki's targets hit within the first two rounds. She allowed herself a small smile. Maybe

While the children recovered from throwing weapons, the shinobi demonstrated some basic taijutsu forms. Yuki rubbed her arms, wishing there was a jutsu to make her body not hurt after intense exercise.

When it was announced they would be paired off to do one on one matches, her stomach sank.

She didn't go first thankfully, and watched the matches alternate between evenly matched pairs and completely rigged, one sided matches that ended in either broken bones or noses.

Her fight was against a tall boy she didn't know the name of, and a minute into the match it was clear he obviously thought he was being given an easy win. His attacks were clean, but easy to dodge at first. Yuki tried to leap up and land a hit, only for him to grab her and throw her to the ground. When her arm made contact with the concrete tears sprang to her eyes, and she inhaled as much oxygen as her sore lungs would allow. This was it, she was out of her league here.

"You can do it Yuki-chan, you're faster than him!" As she rolled to dodge another punch, she could hear Shotaro from the sidelines. Well if Shotaro thought she could do it-

Yuki clenched her fist, but kept on the defensive, not daring to try and land a hit until she was certain. The last time she'd jumped he'd grabbed her, but if she could bring him to her level.

Yuki crouched, placing a single hand on the damp concrete. The boy ran at her again, aiming to kick her into oblivion. In a move she had no doubt resembled the scramble of a wild animal, she dodged the kick and grabbed the ankle he'd pivoted on. Much to her delight, and the cheers of Shotaro in the distance, the boy toppled like the towers of blocks she'd played with only two years before. Disrupt the base, and the rest of the tower would fall with it.

The boy was on the ground now, and furious. Before he could scramble back to his feet, Yuki pushed him until he rolled onto his front and grabbed an arm. After some struggling she managed to pin it behind his back, kneeling on it with her full weight until he yelled in pain.

The boys other arm tried to push himself up and disrupt Yuki's weight on his back, but the shinobi ended the match, declaring Yuki the winner.

She would have bruises tomorrow, but so would he.

Shotaro's match was against Kana, who scowled the entire time. It started as a glorified fist fight, until Kana kicked Shotaro's knee. As Shotaro fell, he pulled on the hem of the other boys coat, pulling him down as well. Kana cursed, flailing as Shotaro climbed on top of him, knees pinning down the other boys arms, his arm pressed against the lavender haired boys throat.

As one of the shinobi was calling the match, Kana freed one of his hands, punching Shotaro in the side of the head. Yuki yelled as she watched Kana shove Shotaro off him, standing and rubbing his throat.

The match was called as a draw.

After the final match, the ninja listed off several names of those who had clearly not passed the fitness tests, and around half a dozen children were taken aside to be sent back across the ferry. That marked the end of evaluation day two, much to Yuki and the remaining children's relief.

"I don't know what I'd do if I was sent home." Michiko muttered that night, running her hands over a stolen kunai knife. "I'd probably die."

"No silly, you wouldn't die." Keiko shook her head. "You'd just come back the next year and try again!"

Yukiji was glad at least one of them was an optimist. If she was being honest, she wouldn't mind getting eliminated. It seemed every muscle in her four year old body ached after just two days, and if she was eliminated it meant she could go home to her mom and dad.

What a nice thought.

But when she tried to sleep that night, all she could hear was Shotaro's determined words ringing through her ears. Her mantra the entire journey from home to here. _"Ame needs strong ninja to protect it. And if I can become a strong ninja, I can make sure kids like us, and villages like ours can live in peace._"

Her stomach folded into guilty knots. She couldn't get eliminated, it would be betraying Shotaro, and her parents dream.

The next test tested their teamwork skills in a capture the flag type of exercise. The remaining children were split into two teams, each given a scroll. The team that ended up with both scrolls would win.

They were given the entire day, and an entire abandoned yard as their range. Nanaba was present with his clipboard and an umbrella, wishing both Yuki and Shotaro luck as he walked by. The children were subject to the full downpour constantly present in Amegakure, and when Yuki wasn't trying to sneak into enemy territory, she was wringing out her hair.

Her team lost after a rough pile up wherein Harumi, who was on the other team, snuck around the engaged guards of their scroll and grabbed it. She'd tried to stop him, but he'd brought Kana as backup, completely overpowering her.

But she wasn't among the names eliminated that day. There were as many eliminated from the losing team as the winning team.

Kana, who wasn't among those eliminated, demanded to know what the criteria was. Nanaba had smiled nervously and said something about a combination of assessing teamwork, leadership, and individual strength.

"They're probably just pulling whoever is eliminated out of their asses." Keiko muttered that evening. "No rhyme or reason."

"Well if you think about it-" Hana pressed a knuckle to her lips in concentration. "As shinobi a lot of things don't have rhyme or reason. A mission may fail but count as a success if everyone makes it out alive. Or the other way around, the mission succeeds but it feels like a failure because someone died. So the instructors want to see how we'll cope if rhyme and reason are taken away." Keiko, Yuki, and Michiko, who had been only been passing in the hall, all gaped at her. "Or maybe they're just playing favorites." Hana shrugged, acknowledging Michiko with a tiny wave.

Hana was the same age as Shotaro, it was no wonder she had so much knowledge in Yuki's eyes. She hoped the older girl wouldn't get eliminated. She hoped neither Keiko nor Michiko were eliminated either. It occurred to Yuki that she hadn't had the chance to get to know the other village children before leaving, so that made Hana, Keiko, and Michiko her first friends.

Having friends was a nice feeling she decided. Even if Keiko did cheat at cards.

The next morning, Yuki realized that only her, Shotaro, and the other seven they'd come on the ferry with remained when they were lined up.

"Uh, surprise! Testing is over, and welcome to Amegakure Academy!" Nanaba was obviously smiling beneath his rebreather. "You nine are pretty tough, I'll give you that."

"We made it Shotaro!" Yuki smiled up at her brother, who returned the smile.

"Mom and Dad would be so proud of us."

Their attention was brought back to the shinobi before them.

"To celebrate nine additions to the new pre-genin class, we've been allowed by our leader to take you all out to eat tonight."

The nine of them were told that upon acceptance into the Academy, Amegakure's leader Hanzo had authorized a monthly stipend for each of them, to be spent on clothes, food, and tools.

They would continue living in the tower above the Academy, and had full access to the training grounds when they were not in use for class purposes.

A female jounin named Saori brought the four girls out shopping that afternoon, and Yuki could finally pick out a shirt to wear that wasn't a sweater. The typical Amegakure shinobi colors seemed to range from white to grey to navy blue. She picked out a shirt that was pretty warm despite how thin the fabric was, a new raincoat, and some plain shorts. Not the most flashy of uniforms, but Saori pointed out she would probably grow a lot in the next few years and would therefore have to buy new clothes soon anyway.

The afternoon was peaceful, and when Nanaba and the other shinobi brought them out to dinner, Yuki felt perfectly calm when she glanced around the table. Shotaro was talking to one of the shinobi, Kana was bickering with Tanaka, and Keiko was trying to lure another of the shinobi into playing cards with her.

Her good mood had carried into the night, as Hana had coaxed her into staying up late to plan what they would learn during their time at the academy.

But it was killed almost completely before the first day had technically begun. Yuki had tried to slide onto a bench past a girl she didn't know, accidentally knocking her book out of her hand.

"Typical outer village kid." The girl had sniffed disdainfully. "With the grace of a cow."

Yukiji quietly took her seat, not quite understanding what had just happened. She asked Michiko as much when her friend sat down with her, and Michiko explained that most Ame kids were stuck up. She said it was a matter of pride to them. Being born to a ninja family in a hidden village meant you studied shinobi life from birth, and were more apt to learning ninja skills at a younger age.

"But," Michiko had held up a finger when Yuki's face fell. "They all have families to go home to. We only have each other, and that's why we should stick together. When we become genin it will help us in the long run."

Yuki nodded in agreement, and continued to observe the other Ame kids throughout the first day of classes. It was clear they already knew a lot about shinobi life, and some were eager to show it off.

"Hey! Yuki-chan!" At the end of the last class, Yukiji turned to see Harumi running up to her.

"Oh, hi Harumi-kun-" She waved politely.

"I'm sorry for breaking my promise to you." He inclined his head, hair flipping down into his eyes.

"Promise?" She frowned.

"To teach you to walk on water!"

"Oh? Oh! It's no big deal." She shrugged.

"Can I show you now?" He was rubbing the back of his head, clearly a little embarrassed.

"Yea, let's go!"

The only indicator of their shared age was their heights, as Harumi talked about various jutsu, and how he would invent some that had never been heard of before.

They walked past a few more towers, until they found a deep puddle in an alley. Yuki sat on a discarded pipe, watching as Harumi first walked through the puddle, murky water reaching past his ankles, before walking back over it, as if the water were an extension of the ground.

"That's amazing!" Yuki clapped. "How do you do it?"

Harumi was more than happy to show her, evidenced by the huge grin on his face as she tried it. It took her three tries to concentrate on just the surface of the water, and it was Harumi's turn to clap when she confidently walked over the puddle to join him.

She returned back to the dorm to find that Hana had borrowed some money from Keiko and Michiko, using it to buy ingredients to cook all of them dinner.

It wasn't quite like eating with her family, but Michiko and Keiko's bickering while Hana smiled and pushed her food into shapes with her chopsticks reminded her of a family.

Yuki offered to wash the dishes since she hadn't contributed any money towards dinner. When finished, the lights in both shared rooms were off. As quietly as possible, she slid the door to their room open to reveal Hana nestled in blankets, completely knocked out for the night.

The energy buzzing through her veins didn't seem close to quieting enough to let her sleep, so Yuki sat at her place in front of the open window, watching the rain coat the city.

It was only lightly drizzling tonight, and the cool moisture in the air was soothing. Yuki felt a smile spread across her face when it all hit her.

She had made it to the Academy, gotten accepted into the Academy, and could walk on water. That made her practically a ninja right?

Well, probably not, a part of her reasoned. What would make her a ninja would be her ability to protect others and fulfill her dream. She'd have to work on that, Yuki thought with a sigh. Her muscles were still sore from the last bout of testing days ago.

"Yuki-chan!" A voice sounded beside her, and Yukiji nearly jumped. Harumi stood on a ledge just next to her window, grinning.

"Harumi! What are you doing here?"

"These towers are so much fun to climb, plus Shotaro is studying, so I don't want to disturb him."

Yuki frowned. Should she be studying?

"Come on up here- there's a statue on the other side of the building that we can sit in without getting too wet."

Yukiji glanced at the sleeping Hana, before carefully hoisting herself on the ledge next to Harumi. He led her to the statue, and they slipped inside the mouth. The rain drummed above their heads, and Yuki hummed quietly.

"How was your first day?" Harumi broke the silence.

"I think it's stupid the Ame kids are so judgy. They're not better than us just because they're from ninja families. If we had been born into shinobi families then we'd know as much as them."

"I think it's pretty stupid too. You'll just have to show them by getting twice as good as them." Harumi nodded.

"What about you, how was your first day?" Yuki asked, pulling her knees more tightly around her. She'd forgotten he was technically part of a shinobi family, and wondered if the Ame children were rude to him too.

"It was okay. I just want them to teach us how to control the elements and stuff, that's how I'll start inventing jutsu."

"Why do you want to invent one so bad?" It seemed like an odd goal. "There's plenty already."

"I want to invent so many jutsu they'll name one after me!"

"That's ridiculous, they don't name jutsu after people!" Yuki rolled her eyes.

"They will! You'll see!"

The more days and weeks she spent at the Academy, the less time Yukiji found to talk to Shotaro. Most of their respective free time was spent trying to improve through study and training.

In class, the pre-genin learned the difference between edible and poisonous plants, commonly used poisons, shinobi history, geography, weapons, and explored further the types of genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu.

The most interesting days were when they split into elemental affinities.

Yuki found herself in the expectedly large water affinity group, where she met her first Ame-born friend. Momona Ootori became her water jutsu and sparring partner since they were the same age. Though when it came to sparring, the other girl was much faster. Yuki like that Momo never talked down to her, and that while she had superior skills, it was clear she wanted Yuki to match her.

"Come on Yuki-chan, I can't get any better if you don't get any better!" Momo admonished. "You should get as good as me so we can both get even better!"

She'd announced to Yuki on their second day together that she was going to be the greatest assassin in history.

Yuki had replied she didn't doubt it, picked herself up from the mat and tried once again to beat the other girl down.

If asked, Yuki would have said shinobi history was the second most interesting class.

"Nanaba-sensei? Why doesn't Amegakure have a Kage?" Tanaka asked on the first day after learning about the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

"Because we're small and weak." Michiko countered. "But that will change one day when I take over!"

"Shut up!" One of the Ame kids, a boy named Yatsuka hissed. "Ame will be strong one day, and it'll be after I take my uncle's place as leader."

The class, even some of the Ame kids, groaned collectively. Yatsuka thought he was gonna be the leader of the village just because his uncle was Hanzo of the Salamander. Yuki was fairly certain that's not how it worked.

Yuki paid extra attention when they went over the Shinobi World Wars. It was always the bigger countries manipulating the smaller countries against each other. It infuriated her. She didn't live in Fire country, or Earth country, but they were the reason she had to leave her parents. They were the biggest threat. The Five Great Shinobi Countries, more like the Five Most Self-Important Shinobi Countries.

Amegakure shinobi were currently fighting off Iwa shinobi on their northern border, and the Konoha shinobi were providing assistance in border protection. The Academy instructors did not hold back in letting the students know they would likely be sent to the border for experience. Hanzo was determined to amass enough shinobi power to keep from relying on foreign aid.

One of Hanzo's closest officers came to shadow the classes, and seemed impressed with the rigor and dedication that Yuki and her fellow students displayed.

While water seemed to be her primary release, Yukiji was determined to grow comfortable with other elements as well. After trapping Momo in a rain prison during one of their fights, she had tried to crack the ground underneath her friends feet, but had almost passed out in doing so. Nanaba had advised against putting so much of her chakra into one move. It took more chakra control and a higher affinity with earth than Yukiji possessed.

Rain prison had been the first jutsu the class learned, regardless of affinity. Wherever a person was hit by rain would feel like someone grabbing and holding them down. The rain would create a layer around the target, trapping them from moving. As long as it was raining and enough chakra was poured into the jutsu, the prison would hold. It was infinitely useful for catching thieves and criminals in the city.

Rain based genjutsu was the other jutsu the class learned. They were taught to use the rain as a conduit for trapping opponents in a simple genjutsu. When pitted against one of the Ame kids in a match, Yuki found herself wandering for what felt like hours as heavy rain fell around her, getting louder with every step. The match ended when she fell to her knees and covered her ears, unable to block out the thundering rain.

Yukiji was glad to leave the genjutsu specialization to Hana anyway.

* * *

A brief-ish authors note: Eventually we'll see Nagato and Konan I promise! I want to set up a believable premise and character arc before throwing Yuki in with the Akatsuki. For anyone paying any kind of attention to timelines, she was born the same year as Itachi, though not for romantic purposes. As for Amegakure and Hanzo, Kishimoto has given me almost nothing to work with so I just filled in the gaps. Drop a like/review if you enjoyed! (Or if you didn't enjoy, review anyway so I can make it better)


	3. Chapter 3

Hanzo of the Salamander was the reclusive leader of Amegakure. The four vertical lines on the forehead protectors they would be issued when becoming a genin were a symbol of their loyalty to him. These facts were known by every child enrolled in the Academy.

Every instructor served Hanzo, and when they became genin, they would serve Hanzo as well. Yuki had never seen him, but Yatsuka was always happy to brag about how strong his uncle was, and how he could never be bested by any shinobi, not even Konohagakure's "legendary Sannin".

Yuki felt a bit of pride at that, not even the best of the Leaf could defeat their leader. It was no wonder her father had trusted in Hanzo enough to continue living in a war zone.

The war never touched the city, and for that Yuki was thankful. But she couldn't help but worry about their parents. She had no way to contact them, and Shotaro seemed unconcerned when she asked him one afternoon.

"Listen, Yuki," He'd stared her directly in the eyes as they'd walked back from the grocery store. "They're probably fine. The war is being fought in Grass country, not our country. Mom and Dad were just paranoid because the last war was fought here."

"It's stupid!" She declared. "We're our own countries, not battlegrounds."

"Tell that to the Tsuchikage and the Hokage." Shotaro shook his head. "But I understand you being worried about Mom and Dad. The only thing we can do is keep going, for them."

Yuki nodded, shifting the bag of groceries on her hip. They passed a window, and Yuki stopped them, taking note of the position of the muscles in Shotaro's face. She shifted her own facial muscles to match, until two stony expressions were reflected in the window.

"I still don't know how you can do that." A smile cracked his face, and they started walking again. Yuki mirrored his smile.

She knew they looked less alike than they had when arriving in Ame. The baby fat had melted off of Shotaro's face, and he'd shot up in height in the past year. Yuki had also gotten taller, but felt herself packing on more muscle than inches. Their hair remained the same lengths, barely brushing their shoulders. Yuki was too nervous to cut it any shorter, while Shotaro didn't want longer hair to become a hazard in a fight.

The groceries were delivered to Hana, before Shotaro left to study until dinner.

A few weeks into the Academy, Hana had invited Shotaro to eat with the girls as long as he contributed to the food fund, and eventually the other boys started throwing in money as well. Though the kitchenette had no formal dining table, all nine of them started cramming into it for dinner every night, sitting on borrowed stools and countertops. Since cooking for nine wasn't an easy task, Michiko started helping Hana cook, while the boys took turns helping Yuki wash the evenings dishes.

Keiko was not allowed near any cooking implements on account of almost burning it down trying to make cheese toast early one morning.

Dinner was peaceful that night, devoid of even Keiko and Tanaka's usual bickering. Aside from the hushed conversations, the drum of the rain above them was the only sound in the room. Hana and Shotaro made conversation, and Kana tried to provoke Tanaka unsuccessfully. Harumi talked to her about elemental releases, and Yuki nodded politely, despite not having any clue what he was trying to say. Keiko left the meal first, thanking Michiko and Hana. A quiet chorus of "goodnight" followed her exit.

It was Shinji's turn to help her with the dishes, and that meant Yuki could either talk to fill the silence, or leave the silence alone.

So she talked, trying to get to know the mute boy as best she could. He carried around a pen and a pad of paper when he desperately needed to get something across, but other than that, communicating with Shinji was one long game of charades combined with 21 questions.

"So you want to be a scientist," Was what Yuki had gleaned from the "conversation" so far.

Shinji nodded, dripping wet arms disappearing back into the pile of bubbles.

"What kind of science do you want to study? Life science? Jutsu-science? Medical Science?" Yuki didn't really know the types of science, and improvised as best she could.

Shinji held up three fingers.

"Three? Oh- the third one. Medical science?" A thumbs up confirmed she'd gotten the idea.

"That's cool! I mean, doctor's do a lot of paperwork, which is good for you, I think, because if you write down everything wrong with the patient then you don't need to tell them verbally."

Shinji shrugged. Yuki smiled, humming a tune she'd heard one of the instructors humming the previous day. She stacked the last few dishes on her side of the sink to be dried, allowing Shinji to start on the pots.

A clatter from outside alerted both of them. Yuki looked out the window, only to see something tumble down and hit the pavement below. Someone followed, leaping down the building. A shinobi- she thought. But this one wasn't wearing a rebreather, and the four lines on the hitai-ate were crossed by a single horizontal line.

The man pressed a finger to his lips, meeting both Shinji and Yuki's eyes.

Shinji had dried his hands to hurriedly scribble something on a note.

"That was as assassination. I felt the other guys chakra extinguish-" Yuki read aloud, frowning at Shinji. As if to clarify, Shinji mimed a candle being blown out. Yuki shivered at the thought of a dead body lying barely 100 feet below them.

Shinji tapped her arm, then put a hand on her shoulder in attempted comfort. He really was opposite to his cousin in every way. Besides their general volumes, Tanaka was crass and lacked empathy, while Shinji seemed to be able to sense the emotions of others and reacted accordingly.

She finished drying her dishes, and waited for Shinji to finish cleaning the pots, sitting cross legged on the counter so she could stare out the window. The body was now gone, as if it had never been there. Yuki swallowed hard. It was just a part of shinobi life she knew she'd have to get used to. Death.

A cloud of soap bubbles landed on top of her head pulled her from her thoughts, courtesy of the sandy haired boy in front of her, who was laughing silently. She swiped the bubbles off, and rinsed off her hands before flicking the water at Shinji.

She didn't get off the sink fast enough to avoid the spray as he turned the faucet on full blast, putting a spoon underneath the jet.

"You're evil." She grinned, glancing down at her damp shirt.

"Rain cloud jutsu!" A few hand signs later, and Shinji found himself standing under a tiny cloud leaking tiny little drops of rain.

He made the timeout symbol, and the cloud disappeared. They dried up the kitchen, but not before he smacked her with the wet dish towel.

"Hey, you were the one who called a truce!" She complained.

The war still raged beyond the city, and some of the Academy instructors spoke in hushed words about the brutality between Iwa and Konoha, and the unneeded interference of Kumo.

Yuki still sparred with Momona, and was even introduced to Momona's friend Satsumi. Satsumi came from a family that specialized in medical ninjutsu, and Yuki immediately thought of Shinji.

Yuki found out that to be a medic-nin, one had to wield medical chakra, as demonstrated by Satsumi.

Yuki stared at the green light covering Satsumi's hands with a fascination.

"I mean, even though advanced techniques are kind of a secret in my family, technically I wouldn't be doing any harm if I lent you a book." The orange-haired girl had frowned at Yuki's awe, arms crossed.

"Thank you!" Yuki smiled. Momo had grinned from beside her, glad that two of her friends were getting along.

The book the next day, a slim volume that contained less diagrams than Yuki would have liked. That night it was Yuki's turn to knock on Harumi's window for a midnight meeting.

"So you want to get good at medical ninjutsu?" He skimmed the pages. "It seems really hard. And this book is so vague."

"Well I think it's the best way to help people." She smiled. "I can protect civilians by healing them."

"In any case you'll be nicer than Satsumi as a medic-nin." Harumi made a face.

"I'm sure she's not that bad." Yuki shook her head and stuck the book in the large pocket of her raincoat. Her pajamas were on underneath, and Harumi had made fun of her for the outfit.

"I heard from my parents about the war." Harumi said after moments of silence stretched awkwardly.

"Anything good?"

"Oh they're fine, they just desperately need more border protection. Iwa thinks Konoha and Ame are conspiring so they've started bombing or raiding as many villages as they can.

That sent a shiver down Yuki's back and she buried her face in her arms.

"Oh, your village is on the border, that's right." Harumi inferred, putting a hand on her back.

Yuki nodded.

"There's always a chance they survived." Harumi sighed, sliding closer to her. "I'm sorry Yuki."

She knew he was right, and the border between Rain and Grass country was hardly small. If anything, Iwa would bomb the villages along the Earth/Rain border. Or so Shotaro explained to her the next day. But even he'd looked worried when he thought Yuki wasn't looking.

While worrying about the Shinobi World War miles away, the pre-genin class faced a more dangerous domestic conflict.

The topic had been brought up when one of the Ame born children asked where Yatsuka was. Nanaba had sighed, before beginning with a "We were told to kind of avoid the subject with you guys, but it's better if you know what's going on. For safety reasons."

Everyone in the class had leaned forward in their seats as soon as Nanaba said the word "safety".

"So the short version is, there's a rebel group called the Akatsuki. We thought they were working towards peace with us, but they turned against us. They're trying to remove Hanzo as the leader of Amegakure. So, being Hanzo's nephew, Yatsuka is in hiding at the moment."

Faces fell across the room, and Nanaba rubbed his temple.

"Come on guys, Hanzo is not going down that easily. Things are just a little unstable right now. Hanzo will win. He always does."

Yuki felt herself nodding slightly. If she hadn't been an almost five year old pre-genin, she would have gone out to fight the Akatsuki herself.

Yuki listened intently to how the Akatsuki were a threat to Amegakure's peace and their leader betrayed the Hanzo's ideals, only to hear a conflicting account that evening.

She'd just gone with Hana to grab a loaf of bread and some potatoes for dinner that night, and had heard several civilians talking about the power of the Akatsuki, and how the group fought for the citizens interests.

Yuki frowned when one of the women suggested the leader of the Akatsuki was the equivalent of a god.

Hana had heard the same comments, and had taken Yuki's hand silently, checking out and leaving the store with a haste Yuki had never seen from the older girl.

"Remember, Hanzo was the one who took us and trained us." Was all Hana said before starting to make dinner.

Despite the terror of a civil war, classes continued. More of the Ame born children stopped coming, with complete silence as to why. Some of the instructors disappeared as well, and it went completely unspoken what happened to them.

The remaining instructors seemed to be glancing over their shoulders every second, but insisted on getting the pre-genin class to graduation.

Yuki went out to the shops whenever she could, mostly trying to overhear any more gossip about the Akatsuki. Little more was spoken on the topic, but she did hear how anyone loyal to Hanzo was being hunted until Hanzo himself was defeated.

She relayed this info at dinner, and jaws dropped.

"And they're keeping the Academy open? Idiots. I'm surprised we haven't been killed already." Kana made a face.

"Don't say that!" Michiko glared. "We're going to be ok."

"And if we aren't?" The lavender haired boys arms crossed.

"They'll either kill us or we'll join them." Shotaro's voice was eerily calm, as if he'd thought about this before. Jaws dropped again, Yuki's among them. No one at the table wanted to hear about possibly dying, and pledging loyalty to a rebel group tearing the city apart seemed like the deepest betrayal possible.

"We're not even genin yet." Yuki's brother elaborated. "So technically, we're not pledged to Hanzo yet. So the Akatsuki should give us a chance to join their ranks. We'll become genin, but their genin. And if they decide to lump us in with the other Amegakure shinobi, then they'll kill us no matter what."

Everyone saw his point, and no one wanted to admit he had one.

The instructors trained them twice as hard, and after three full hours of taijutsu practice, Yuki's lungs felt like razors had been dragged through them. Despite the stamina boost she'd gained over the past months, the instructors seemed set on pushing them to their limits.

"What's up with the pace today? If the Akatsuki doesn't kill us, you guys will." Leave it to Kana to voice a sour complaint through panting.

"That's the point." Their taijutsu instructor, a stern woman named Misato, replied. "The stakes were raised when this city's shinobi forces split in half. While it's not fair to you guys, you have to pick up the slack if you want to survive as genin."

"What a pain." Kana caught his breath.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the pre-genin only had to endure a week of the "raised stakes" training.

The first thing Yuki noticed that morning was that the rain had stopped. Hana had shaken her awake, having noticed during her morning stretches.

"Keiko-chan! Michiko-chan!" Yuki ran across the hall. "The rain's stopped!"

"That's not even a funny prank." Keiko murmured from under a blanket. "Good morning, Yuki-chan."

"It's not a prank!" Yuki crossed her arms. "Get out of bed and look for yourself."

The moment she left the room she heard Keiko swear.

"The rain's stopped."

Breakfast was full of energy, both concerned and excited over the significant lack of precipitation outside.

Yuki had started helping Michiko cook in the morning, while Keiko babbled on about various topics. But that morning, Keiko's commentary was entirely speculation about where the rain had gone.

"Obviously someone drank it all." Hana thankfully cut off Keiko's alien theory from the counter, sipping a cup of tea.

"You never know!" Keiko shrugged.

It was Keiko's job to do the breakfast dishes, and the other three waited for her to be finished before descending the frankly ridiculous amount of stairs to get to the Academy below them.

They met up with the boys to find the building was completely deserted aside from them. No lights had been turned on, and Shinji said there was no one but them in the building. Once this fact had been realized, overlapping voices filled the hallway.

"This is it."

"The instructors either left or were killed."

"None of the Ame kids are here."

"You mean none of the three that bothered to show up at the end."

"Shut up Kana."

"I hope Nanaba-sensei is alright-"

"I don't."

"Shut UP Kana!"

They returned to the dorm building, sitting around the immaculate room shared by Harumi and Shotaro.

"So the instructors will either be back in the next few days, or we're on our own." Shotaro declared, crossing his arms. "Until the latter is confirmed, no one leave alone and you guys shouldn't wander too far away from the tower. If we've been abandoned, we'll decide where to go from there."

"Bold words from someone no one elected to be in charge." Kana called from the windowsill he sat in.

"Asshat. Shotaro just has common sense." Michiko glared over at him. "If you wanna run out by yourself and die be my guest."

"I won't die if I run out. You guys are such cowards."

"We're just trying to stay safe-" Hana piped up, earning an approving glance from Shotaro.

"Fine, fine, I get it." The lavender haired boy rolled his eyes.

"In the meantime, we should work on skills or study. Or do whatever." Shotaro shrugged. "Buddy system at all times."

"How does that work if there are an odd number?" Tanaka scratched his head. Yuki saw Michiko, the resident math expert, press fingers to her temples.

"Some people will have to form a group of three. Idiot." Kana moved from the window behind the shorter boy just to knock him on the head.

"Hey that hurt asshole!" Tanaka tried to swing a punch but missed.

"Shinji-kun should be with two people, since he can't make any noise if he gets in trouble." Hana pointed out over the scuffle.

"Shinji-kun will stay with me!" Tanaka wrestled away from Kana, who'd had him in a deadlock. "He's my cousin."

"So who will stay with you guys?" Michiko glanced around, meeting various faces. Hana openly shook her head, and Yuki avoided her gaze completely.

"I will!" Keiko grinned, hand clenched into a fist in front of her. "Tanaka-kun, I'm finally going to kick the crap outta you today!"

Yuki almost laughed. Their personalities were so similar in that both of them got riled up easily, and Keiko had declared Tanaka her number one rival on their third day of class. Unfortunately for her, he was better at sparring, but to her credit she always got up and faced him again with even more energy.

"Well I guess that leaves you with me." Kana glanced down at Harumi, who had been reading this whole time.

"No way, I'm going with Yuki-chan! We have jutsu to work on!"

"We do?" Yuki raised an eyebrow, but immediately agreed. Kana looked panicked for a moment before Michiko sighed.

"Just stick with me. I'm probably going to just practice stuff in the training yard and you can get the bitchy attitude out of your system."

Kana murmured what was probably an insult, but nodded.

That left Hana and Shotaro, who told the rest of the room they would be sparring and anyone else was welcome to join them.

Yuki and Harumi went outside, marvelling at the ever thinning layer of clouds above them. The city was unusually lit up from the sunlight piercing through, and Yuki felt a slight breeze in the absence of the rain.

"It's kinda pretty." Harumi mused. "Though it's unnatural."

"I haven't seen the rain stop since before I came here." Yuki sat cross legged. The two of them were standing on the head of one of the creatures erupting from the side of a tower across the street from the tower.

Harumi sat next to her. Yuki continued speaking.

"I mean, back home we had seasons, and sometimes it wouldn't rain for months. But in this city," She shook her head.

"We should enjoy it while it lasts, I guess, or who knows it might never rain again."

"Yea."

"Hey Yuki," It was the first time Harumi had dropped the honorific for her, and she frowned in confusion.

"I think I'm going to go home soon. My parents sent a hawk a couple of nights ago, and my grandmother just recovered enough from her illness that she can be my guardian until my parents get home."

"I'm glad your parents are alright." She nodded. "And I'll be really sad if you leave."

"Yea! I'll be sad to leave you." Harumi pushed dusty red hair back from his eyes. "You're my best friend."

"Yea," Yuki agreed, but part of her wondered if it was true on her end. Hana and her were close, but Hana was her roommate. She couldn't count Shotaro, since he was her brother, and she'd only recently become friends with Shinji. "I think you're my best friend too."

Harumi smiled, and brought up some books he'd read the previous week about advanced water techniques. The return to normalcy helped Yuki forget she was already losing another one of her friends and it wasn't even graduation yet.

Dinner that night was even quieter than the night before, and people left quickly. Tanaka didn't talk the entire time he helped Yuki do the dishes. Instead, he worked double the speed, until Yuki had no choice but to let him finish on his own.

When Yuki woke up the next day, the rain was back, falling as heavily as if it hadn't been completely gone the day before.

Breakfast was somehow worse than dinner the previous night, with everyone crowding in early as Yuki and Michiko cooked.

Kana was pissed beyond consolation, Michiko was fed up with Kana, Shinji looked like he could trade his lack of speech for a lack of hearing, and Tanaka and Keiko were gearing up for round two from yesterday.

Shotaro calmed everyone down, silencing even Kana's complaining.

"We'll send a three man team out to do some reconnaissance, see if we can figure out what's going on."

Everyone liked the sound of that. Kana, Harumi, and Hana would go, that way Shotaro would monitor the two most rambunctious and keep them from destroying anything important.

Yuki found herself sitting at the training ground with Shinji and Michiko, listening to Michiko complain about Kana.

Shinji wrote a note, showing it to only Yuki as Michiko waved an arm in frustration.

_She likes him. Half the things she says aren't even real problems and she's mentioned his hair color three times._

Yuki stifled a laugh. Michiko glanced down at them, then grabbed the note out of Yuki's hands. Her face darkened, and Yuki leaned back so that the purple haired girls glare landed on Shinji.

"I do NOT like him! And how am I NOT supposed to notice his hair when it's in his damn face half the time!"

Shinji hid behind Yuki.

Yuki and Michiko made dinner that night, Michiko grumbling the entire time. The room was tense until the recon team returned, absolutely soaked from the rain.

"Forget an umbrella?" Michiko rolled her eyes.

"Shut up." Kana glared, pushing his hair out of his face.

"Anything?" Shotaro moved over to make a seat for Hana.

"Hanzo is supposedly dead." Kana announced, wringing out the hem of his shirt.

Shocked gasps travelled around the room.

"No one knows what happened. The Akatsuki are gone, and they've been replaced by this guy, this god, everyone calls Lord Pein."

"Holy-" Tanaka stared at Kana.

"So this guy, Pein, runs the city now? He's head of the village?"

"Supposedly. Unless Hanzo is secretly alive and tries to take it back."

"Either way, we're on our own."

The room erupted into arguing again, until Hana banged her fist on the counter.

"So-" Shotaro waved a hand. "We now have no reason to be loyal to Hanzo. We're not genin yet, and unless Lord Pein reopens the Academy, I doubt we will be."

"We wait two weeks." Hana was only looking at Shotaro. "Wait two weeks and if Lord Pein doesn't do anything with the Academy, we go to him."

"That's-" Kana sat down on the floor. "Actually a good idea yeah."

"So we're in agreement then?"

The other eight of them nodded at Shotaro. In the back of her mind, Yuki was proud of him for staying so calm in the face of the unknown.

Their routines adjusted slightly. The boys started eating breakfast with them as well, and Hana took a larger portion of their remaining money as well. Her and Michiko took charge of the budget, hoping they could stretch every remaining dollar for the two weeks.

The empty rooms of the Academy were creepy in Yuki's opinion, but Shotaro insisted they should keep training, and learn what they could.

Yuki spent the first day in the Academy's library with Harumi, looking over ninjutsu they hadn't learned yet. He told her he would leave at the end of the two weeks if the Academy remained closed.

By the third day, someone at dinner announced they actually missed the Ame kids. Yukiji wondered if Momona was ok. She probably was, her parents were both shinobi. They could protect her.

By the weekend, the children grew restless. Hana and Michiko tried not to worry everyone, but the amount of food passed out for meals seemed to dwindle. The monthly stipend that would usually more than enough to cover food had been cut off now that Hanzo wasn't in charge.

"Screw this. I'm going to start stealing some higher quality food. It's Pein's fault for this anyway." Kana stuck his chopsticks in the sticky rice Hana had made that night, and left the table.

"Someone go after him." Hana looked around the table.

"God he's such a pain." Keiko complained.

"So are you! You're so annoying." Tanaka interjected, and the two started bickering with a fierceness that had been unheard of until that moment.

Yuki watched as her brother stood, thanked Hana and Michiko for the meal, and followed Kana.

Dishes that night were her and Shinji again, and they finished them quickly, though Shinji didn't leave for his room until writing her a note.

_I want to go find a library in Ame to see if they have medical science texts, and I want you to come with me._

Yuki pointed out they could take Harumi as a third, covering the buddy system. Shinji agreed, and left with a smile she rarely saw him have.

A different plan was executed the next morning, one of Shotaro's. He declared that stealing wasn't out of their abilities, and should be done only in three man teams. He told them to treat it like the missions described to them at the Academy.

Kana, Tanaka and Shinji would be the test drivers of Shotaro's plan. While Tanaka would distract the vendors, with a henge of course, since Shotaro wanted to reuse the ploy multiple times, Kana and Shinji would take as much food as needed.

Yuki and Harumi joined Shotaro to watch the plan play out. It would have worked smoother, if Tanaka had better control of the henge.

But they got enough food for that night, and hadn't gotten caught. Which was a win for all of them. The plan started to be repeated as much as needed, though more often than not Yuki watched Shotaro swap in for Tanaka perform the distracting henge.

But Shinji managed to get enough food to take a few days off from the plan, and Yuki got Harumi on board with the idea of finding a library.

They decided that it was easier, and would serve their training better in the long run to jump from spire to spire instead of walking on the ground.

The only problem was, none of them knew what a library looked like. Between asking around, and looking around, their mission was wholly unsuccessful. Trying to keep on the bright side, Yuki mentioned she was glad she got to see more of the city.

To her surprise, Shinji was with Harumi knocking on her window that night. Pulling her raincoat over her, she joined them on the roof. Someone put up the umbrella, and Yuki realized both boys were tense.

"What's going on?"

"Shinji and Tanaka might leave too."

"What?" Her brow furrowed. "Not you too-" Her eyes met the silent boys. He shrugged, then pulled out a crumpled note.

"Tanaka's parents learned that Hanzo isn't in charge anymore, and they want both of us home as soon as possible. They're coming to get me and Tanaka soon. I don't want you to leave! Either of you!" She glanced between them.

"I'm sorry." Harumi whispered. Shinji took the crumpled note back and scribbled on the back of it.

_I would stay if I had a choice._

Yuki didn't tell anyone, and tried to keep up morale. Her, Harumi, and Shinji went out to look for a library once again, with an equal rate of success as the last time.

She never got to return the book to Satsumi, and lent it to Shinji as a consolation. When he returned it, he'd made notes all through it. Yuki realized sadly that it probably wasn't a big deal, since she doubted she'd see Satsumi again.

But Shinji was persistent, and wanted to attempt healing. Harumi was once again dragged along with them to catch fish. There was an abandoned dock a few streets away from the Academy, and some scrap metal was stacked into a makeshift operating table. It was easy to catch a few fish off the dock. Yuki was glad Shinji had the foresight to bring a bucket to keep the other "patients" in while they waited.

"I'm very sorry, but your sacrifice is needed for research. And if not, your sacrifice is needed for dinner anyway." Harumi murmured to the fish, and Yuki nodded solemnly, before making an incision along its side with a kunai knife. Shinji stood opposite her, all three leaning down intently.

The fish had no response, but as the blade split its side, Yuki saw it wiggle a little harder.

"Go." Harumi said. Yuki had practiced conjuring medical chakra before this, and when her hand became tinged with the signature green glow, a grin split her face.

She pressed a hand to the fish's side, over the cut. The book had mentioned feeling the different body systems, and she concentrated as hard as she could to repair them.

The flesh sealed, but the scales didn't repair, so there was a visible line where they had been cut.

"You did it!" Harumi cheered, placing the fish back in the bucket, where it wiggled fiercely.

"Shinji's turn now." Yuki picked up another fish, laying it on the table. An incision was made, and Shinji's hand lit up green as well.

Harumi and Yuki cheered, until they looked down at the bucket. One of the fish lay upside down, blood leaking out of its mouth. The water in the bucket was now red as well.

Their now dead patient was dissected, only to find out Yuki had misaligned the fish's flesh, and it had died from internal bleeding.

"It's ok Yuki, you'll get better." Harumi had assured her.

Yuki only felt a little bit better when Shinji's fish suffered much the same fate. But at least there was plenty of protein for dinner that night.

Michiko had successfully recruited Kana to cooking detail, and Shotaro had begun insisting on helping Hana for a few of the meals. Yuki stopped doing dishes every night as she joined a rotating schedule with the boys. Keiko was still firmly banned from cooking anything.

Keiko did however, set up a sparring tournament one day, with a bracket and everything. Only taijutsu, no ninjutsu or genjutsu or weapons. Their first aid kits needed to be used for emergencies, not meaningless injuries.

The first match was Yuki against Harumi, and the winner would fight Michiko. She thought she had a chance against him, and actually held out for a solid amount of time before his foot landed on her jaw and she spun backwards, barely catching herself before he landed the final blow that called the match.

Harumi would fight Tanaka, Keiko would fight Michiko, Shinji would fight Shotaro, and Kana would fight Hana.

Kana teased her about being the first loser, but Michiko hit him on the head with a glare.

Tanaka and Harumi's match was a whirl of limbs, and when Harumi lost, the group was forced to acknowledge that for all his loudness, Tanaka was fast.

Michiko and Keiko were up next. Keiko threw entirely punches, and Michiko dodged, but not before landing a hit to Keiko's exposed abdomen. The blonde coughed, but bounced back at Michiko with a fury.

Yuki heard Kana smirk, calling the match a cat fight, and Yuki felt like hitting him since Michiko was otherwise occupied. His match was after this though, she should let him have a fighting chance against her roommate.

Michiko won after knocking Keiko back and appearing behind her to pull her to the ground.

The match between Hana and Kana started slow. Both circled each other, as if waiting for the other to strike. They edged closer, until barely three feet apart. But neither made to strike.

"Come on, we gotta give them a show." Kana rolled his eyes, then dodged when Hana took the opportunity to lunge at him. "Tricked you."

Yuki saw her roommate grimace, and spin, taking a swipe at the back of Kana's head. He ducked, sweeping her feet out from underneath her.

Hana never lost her composure, and Yuki realized that the stretches she'd done every morning had actually been taijutsu forms, forms that she was using to kick Kana's ass.

They matched in speed, but in strength, Kana beat her no contest. Every time she tried to pin him down, he muscled her off until he finally pinned her down, and the match was called.

The final preliminary match was Shotaro vs Shinji. Shotaro's fighting style mimicked Hana's, but with more power behind it. As far as Yuki could tell, Shinji didn't spar that often, and was reduced to just dodging until he could think of a way to outsmart her brother. But her brother kept attacking, until he clipped one of Shinji's ankles when the other boy was just a fraction too slow at dodging. His fist made contact with Shinji's stomach, and the boy coughed, hitting the ground.

"Shotaro wins!" Keiko jumped up and down. "Next match is Tanaka vs Michiko!"

Tanaka was faster than Michiko, almost a blur. But she held still, giving only one strike that sent the other boy reeling back. She was forced to duck though, when he spiraled back at her from bouncing off the wall.

"I hope you're not mad that I beat you." Harumi said from beside her.

"Not at all, I mean I wish I'd won, but it just means I know what to work on now." She shrugged.

"That's good. I went easy on you." He sighed. "I didn't go easy on him though, but he still beat me."

Yuki was a little offended that he went easy on her, and she told him as much. He promised not to in the future, and the match ended right as she affirmed she'd hold him to that.

Michiko had won, and it was Kana vs Shotaro next.

It had been seven months or so since they'd first matched up during evaluation week. Kana had revenge in his eyes as he and Shotaro circled each other.

"Fist fight?" The lavender haired boy called.

"Fist fight." Shotaro confirmed, and the two ran at each other. But when Shotaro flipped back, hands grasping at gravel, his foot making contact with Kana's chest.

"You-" Kana coughed, but grabbed Shotaro's ankle, trying to slam him into the ground.

Shotaro had been expecting this, and pulled Kana down with him. They were rolling on the ground now, both trying to pin down limbs with no success.

Yuki was distracted by Keiko, who was trying to set up a losers bracket, and didn't see when Shotaro landed the blow that would win him the match.

That meant the final match was Michiko vs Shotaro. Kana's nose was bleeding, and disappeared to find a first aid kit. Hana let out an exasperated sigh and jogged after him, reminding him of the buddy system.

Michiko wasn't as strong as Shotaro, but had observed every one of his matches closely and tried to combat his fighting style. They exchanged blows for a solid five minutes, until it hit Yuki that they were purposely trying to tire the other out.

They separated, both panting. Michiko cracked her knuckles, and Shotaro pushed hair out of his face.

Everyone was silent, until Shotaro ran at her. More blows were exchanged.

Keiko looked ready to call a draw, until Shotaro hit the ground. Yuki's eyes widened as Michiko pinned his arms, and Keiko cheered, naming her the winner.

Michiko and Shotaro shook hands, and the nine of them finished to go make dinner, deciding to scrap the idea of a losers bracket for now.

"Hey you two." Kana walked with her and Harumi. He stared down at them over a thick tissue stuck in his nostril. "Hurry up and learn medical jutsu. Your brother punches like a bitch."

Harumi laughed.

Morale dropped significantly the next day when everyone woke up sore. Hana in particular didn't even get up until lunch time. Yuki left her some breakfast, before joining Shinji and Harumi for medical jutsu round two.

It was all chakra control, and Yuki knew she needed to learn the systems of the body if she wanted to heal them. So a fish was killed quickly, and her and Shinji dissected it slowly, taking note of how the organs and tissues connected.

Harumi had brought a book to read while the two dissected their fish, not paying attention.

After the fish dissection, Yuki and Shinji tried to heal again. A smaller cut, plus lining it up completely. Now that Yuki had a better idea of what she was looking for, it was easier to seal the blood vessels, then the rest of the flesh.

_We really gotta find a library _Was the slightly damp note that Shinji handed her as the two newly healed fish darted around the bucket.

"Agreed." Yuki sighed, wiping her hands on her shirt. The fish miraculously lived until dinner time, and Yuki helped gut and clean them, considering it "dissection round two".

* * *

A/N: So there's a high chance this entire thing will be revised in coming months so I'm just kinda wilin, setting up important stuff for later. So smash that like button and leave a review if you enjoyed


	4. Chapter 4 A brief Konan POV

In hindsight, she should have been suspicious about the uneasy quiet that day. Konan cursed her insistence on going alone for patrol.

As soon as Hanzo's men had cuffed her, she'd felt all chakra drain at once. She swore she felt her limbs shrivelling. Crumpled paper fell from her arms and legs, that she'd been maintaining with small amounts of chakra. The drizzling rain soaked them before they even hit the ground.

She was blindfolded, and when Hanzo himself tore off her blindfold, Konan realized she probably wasn't in the city anymore.

"You brats have worked against the better of me and the better of the village long enough. I tolerated you at first, but you go too far. You're a threat to the peace you claim to uphold." Hanzo's glare was evident, and a man standing behind him chuckled. Konan glanced around the room, fear spiking when she realized that Hanzo and Ame nin weren't the only ones present.

"You can't escape. This entire place is surrounded by Anbu." Anbu? She was totally fucked. The man behind Hanzo leered, and several masked nin were at his side. They seemed inhuman as they seemed to study Konan. Two of them were especially short as well, children maybe?

She knew Hanzo hadn't sent children to war. Not even Hanzo would go that far. But she'd seen some genin who were only 6 years old, the age many other countries enrolled their children. Amegakure had no major clans, and its industry was mostly independent and self policing. The steel companies had long since collapsed, leaving the network of spindly towers she and so many had called home as a monument to the past.

Konan was brought back to the present as Hanzo cupped her chin with a gloved hand. The sour smell she knew was his toxic breath invaded her nose. She could hear his wheezing through the rebreather.

"What a shame too. You have such unique skills. A technique that could have given our village an edge above the others. But instead you will die an outcast, with no one to carry on your path." His voice was full of bitter amusement as he shoved her to the floor.

"I could have given you a teaching position at the Academy. You could have given us an edge in this war, perhaps even ended it. But your selfish Akatsuki thinks nothing of such things. Your crusade is meaningless when faced with the greater scheme of this world."

She was silent. Yahiko would find her, and Nagato too. They wouldn't leave her. She strained against the cuffs, anxiety rippling through her as she realized how helpless she was. She was pulled off the floor and blindfolded again.

"Sorry. It's easier if you can't see anything, so you won't find an escape. You're currently being guarded too you know."

The voice of her current supervision sounded even younger than her. Konan said nothing, her mind racing with all of the information gained from the meeting with Hanzo. He hadn't even told her what he would do with her.

But that man, and the Konoha Anbu. That man had to be from Konoha. She knew Konoha nin weren't all that fond of them, and that Amegakure wasn't fond of Konoha either. So it made no sense-

Konan felt someone moving her after she'd lost track of the hours. She went along with it.

"We're going to jump soon." The same voice from before sounded. "Don't try to wiggle out, or I will drop you."

"I won't." She breathed. Just where were they?

There were rocks under her sandals, and she could feel the rain when they hit the outside. It soaked the outer layer of her cloak, but she wasn't unused to the feeling.

There were others around them, and she heard Hanzo's voice distantly. Then, they stopped.

"Hand her to me." Hanzo's voice was right beside her. The blindfold was ripped off, and Konan blinked as light flooded her vision. "Has she been blindfolded the entire time?"

"Yes. I thought it a necessary security precaution. She was blindfolded on the way in, she should be blindfolded on the way out."

"Smart kid you got there Danzo."

Konan looked, and realized the voice who had brought her here was barely any taller than she was. A mask obscured the face of the boy. (She was pretty sure it was boy)

Hanzo unclipped the cuffs next, because he knew she wouldn't try to escape. Not surrounded by Konoha ANBU, not surrounded by Hanzo's own shinobi, shinobi she knew. Konan felt chakra rush back into her, and she breathed a little deeper. They were on some kind of cliff, and Hanzo grabbed the back of her cloak, pushing her to the ground in front of him.

Below them stood two figures, and Konan's heart sank when she recognized the distinct hair colors.

Yahiko was staring up at her, and she saw every emotion in his face as Hanzo spoke, offering her as a trade for one of their lives, or she would die.

Shock, anger, determination, and one final emotion ran across Yahiko's face as the single kunai was thrown at their feet. Konan frowned, then froze as she realized. Acceptance. But it was too late, Yahiko was already turning to Nagato, who'd picked up the knife.

"Don't do it Nagato! Just let me die!" Yahiko was the leader, it was only right he survive. And Nagato was powerful, more powerful than the two of them. His death was out of the question. That left, her. Konan struggled against Hanzo's grip unconsciously. "Save yourselves and let me die!"

But it was too late. Yahiko ran forward, then was leaning on Nagato, but it was wrong. The pure horror distorting Nagato's features told her everything.

"Yahiko!"

If they had survived, witnesses wouldn't have described the sound as merely a scream or yell. They would have described it as a pure howl of agony. A howl of agony ripped from Konan's throat as she was released, and launched forward off the cliff.

Nagato was frozen as Yahiko fell next to him. Konan landed hard before darting to the orange haired boys side with a speed she didn't know she possessed.

She never cried anymore. She thought she'd cried her last tears when she left her parents house for the last time, as the last living soul vacating the property.

But her tears landed on Yahiko's face, and he cracked his eyes open to look at her.

"Konan, follow Nagato. Keep him safe. He will lead us to peace." He was smiling, even as his voice grew more hoarse with each passing second. Konan wanted to howl again. Her heart was being torn in half, and Yahiko had the audacity to smile at her, struggling weakly in her lap.

She pulled him as close as she dared. If only- she could try to stop the bleeding, apply pressure, anything. The Akatsuki had a few medic nins among their ranks, surely they could help him.

She went to apply pressure to the wound, only for Yahiko to grip her arm weakly.

"No. Protect Nagato."

Nagato was next to her, and Konan looked up in time to throw an arm over her face to shield from the blasts. When the smoke cleared, Nagato had no skin left on his legs, only red, raw flesh.

And an anger in his eyes only ever described to her by Yahiko.

"Nagato no! Don't do it!" She shrieked, reaching out an arm in vain. But Nagato's palms slammed into the dirt below him, and he yelled something she couldn't make out.

A Gedo statue erupted behind them, and Konan shielded Yahiko as best she could.

Nagato was radiating with killing intent. Konan knew Yahiko was barely holding on in her lap. Dammit, she couldn't split herself in two-

Nagato screamed when the rods pierced him.

Then it was over. Nothing except the three of them, and the rain. Dozens of bodies were left on the cliff above them, both Anbu and Hanzo's shinobi.

Hanzo himself was gone. They would find him later, Konan knew, her hand clenching.

"Yahiko-" She nudged her teammate. "Yahiko, come on."

He didn't move. His eyes were closed, and a hand on his chest revealed he wasn't breathing.

"Konan." Nagato rasped, and she extracted herself from Yahiko, approaching him. His cloak was in shreds from the rods, and all Konan could see were the harsh outlines of his bones beneath his skin. She didn't know anything about Rinnegan powers, but knew enough to recognize that was his price to pay for the power of summoning the statue.

"Nagato-" She cupped his cheek. "We need to get you out of here. You- you did everything you could. Yahiko entrusted you with the Akatsuki."

"Bring his body." The redhead didn't move. Konan nodded, and Yahiko's body was wrapped in paper. Her chakra had been steadily returning, but not enough to fly all three of them back to the tower. That night, the forehead protectors they'd donned as a sign of respect to Hanzo were slashed through. Konan retied hers to her forehead, pushing strands of blue hair back.

She would personally kill Hanzo for this. He would die for forcing Yahiko's death. It was only fair.

A man who called himself Madara Uchiha approached them the first night, offering to help them form a new Akatsuki.

Konan did not trust him. But he showed Nagato a way to be functional, even if she did not completely understand. Yahiko's body was not buried, instead Konan found herself alongside Tobi, the nickname they were supposed to use for Madara, embedding black receivers in her dead teammates skin.

She didn't question. Her heart hurt for Yahiko, but she was only following his orders. Protect and assist Nagato. He would lead them to peace.

"It's called the Six Paths of Pain technique." Tobi informed them. "Obviously you're not at six yet, but more bodies can always be acquired."

Nagato had only nodded from his position above them. The receivers couldn't be removed, and so he stayed locked at the top of their tower in a contraption of Tobi's design. With the paths, he could move around as needed. If the paths ate or drank, it would sustain Nagato.

Konan supposed it was fitting that Yahiko be made into the first path.

He didn't even look like Yahiko anymore, not after Konan pushed 4 piercings through the bridge of his nose, even more down his ears, and snakebite piercings under his lip. Several more were attached down his body, all via Konan.

When he opened his eyes, she knew with all certainty that Yahiko was gone. Lilac ringed eyes bored into hers, before examining the rest of the reanimated body.

"One down, five more to go!" Tobi's voice was way too cheerful for what had just transpired.

The Deva Path, as she learned it was called, followed her around for the first night, watching her prepare food.

"I'll make some for you too." She said quietly. The path, or Nagato she supposed, sat quietly, lilac eyes following her every move.

"I miss him too." It spoke, but in a voice that was not Yahiko's.

"I know." Was all she said.

"Did Hanzo hurt you?"

"No. His cuffs were chakra sucking though, otherwise-"

"No." The voice echoed, and she froze. "Do not blame yourself for what happened. Hanzo played dirty."

"Yes." She said softly.

"Madara tells me of a way to establish world peace. The jinchuuriki of each village, when combined will yield us a power transcending the power of the villages. As a god, it is only fit I use this power for peace."

"We'll capture jinchuuriki?" The food was finished, and she set it on the table for both of them. Konan didn't even want to ask where the god idea had come from.

"Madara says we need more members. S-rank members."

"That can take on a jinchuuriki and win." She finished. "Where are we supposed to get these members?"

The Deva Path pulled out a book, tossing it to her.

"A bingo book?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Modified to only include S-rank. Zetsu will keep an eye on potentials and report back to us. Zetsu will also be providing me with more bodies. I've already picked out the targets."

"A sound plan." She nodded, flipping absently through the bound pages.

"In the meantime, I will continue to pursue Hanzo until we have complete control of Amegakure. And I will need your help in doing so."

Konan closed the book.

"Nothing would please me more Nagato-sama."

The last of Hanzo's men would not be hard to find, just hard to corner and kill. She accepted the task as a solo mission, and flew through the night on paper wings. A technique she'd been toying with, but had been able to flesh out with ease. The rain made it difficult to travel very long with them, and she absorbed them back into her cloak as she landed on a spire. She'd found two of the Ame nin hiding out in a bar, and watched one sprint across the roof in front of her. A paper clone was chasing him, and she'd been following from above. But the chase was up.

The clone cornered him to the top of a tower, and the man was disposed of with ease. But the clone dissipated before she could catch the body and it fell to the concrete with a sickening crunch.

Swearing, Konan darted after it. Light from a window illuminated part of her way down, and she stopped, staring into it.

Two children stared back in open mouthed horror. She knew she was far enough back to conceal her face, and pressed a single finger to her lips before hopping the rest of the way down.

The body was easily disposed of, and Konan walked around the side of the building at the base of the tower only to find a sign saying "Academy" above the front door.

She'd heard about Amegakures Academy. Her comrades had jokingly called it the "Hanzo's child soldier factory". The tower above was used to house children from the outer villages until they could become full fledged shinobi.

Hanzo's words about her technique rang in Konan's mind as she darted past the tower she knew had up to a dozen children housed in them.

She had promised Yahiko to protect Nagato, but anyone she taught her techniques to would also have to swear to defend him as well. Then he wouldn't be defenseless if she were captured or killed.

With the paths Nagato would not be defenseless. But from Zetsu and Tobi?

She made a mental note of all the pros and cons of taking on a student, and filed them away.

Zetsu returned a week later with another body. Nagato's second path would be called the Asura Path, and the body procured was from Suna. A lone puppeteer. The infant style puppet that fell out of his cloak as they stripped the body creeped Konan out more than she let on. The puppet was knocked to the side.

Tobi assisted her this time in embedding receivers. The second corpse sat up, and the Rinnegan bored into Konan.

That night while she hunted, she turned over several topics.

First was Tobi, or "Madara". Whatever name he really had, she needed a contingency plan. Her purpose was to stay by Nagato's side, not Tobi's. Konan didn't even know if Zetsu counted as a person, so she filed him under "deal with later".

But Tobi, she needed to know his range of attacks so she could beat him if the need arose. Konan resolved to keep an eye on him in the coming months.

Amegakure. If Nagato became the village leader, they would need some semblance of a system to keep producing shinobi and kunoichi. Hanzo had been taken down in secret, aside from the man from the Leaf.

They still had shinobi on the borders. The war between countries was far from over, and Konan felt a twinge of regret for starting another one. Those who survived fighting for their leader would have a nasty surprise waiting when they returned to the city.

No. Hanzo had brought this upon himself. They could have worked together to make Ame strong, but it was his fault the city was crippled. Konan supposed they would have to eliminate every trace of them. Nagato could do it, at a much larger scale than she could.

Then was the issue of her. Not so much an issue, she supposed, but she needed an escape plan if anyone tried to Hanzo her again.

She kept her paper on her arms and legs as an armor, or to bolster her taijutsu. But if she could just- no. It was crazy.

If she'd been able to get out of the cuffs, or just fall apart and reformed elsewhere. Like a paper clone, but with her own body. Paper could slip through cracks, underneath doors, and fold itself into birds and butterflies to travel.

If she could perfect this hypothetical escape technique, then she would be impossible to kidnap.

Turning her entire body into paper, defeating a man who could warp space and time, and keeping her city together.

A normal workload for any kunoichi, Konan supposed.

* * *

A/N: This is based off of my theory that Konan converted herself to paper to make sure she could never be used as leverage against Nagato again, not even by Tobi or Zetsu


End file.
